


Christmas Reunion

by Chie (Chierafied)



Series: Reader Prompts JL [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Chance Meetings, Christmas, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 19:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17106938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chierafied/pseuds/Chie
Summary: On Christmas Eve, both James and Lily are feeling glum. But then their paths cross unexpectedly... Perhaps they won't have to spend Christmas alone after all.





	Christmas Reunion

James sat on the train back to London, looking gloomily out of the window.

He’d just been to the airport, to see his parents off.

They were going to spend the holidays abroad, hoping to enjoy snow, silence, reindeer and the northern lights.

And while James was happy for them – the whole trip had, in fact, been his gift for them – the downside of his parents’ enthusiastic departure was that he seemed to be doomed to spend Christmas alone.

He’d been planning to have his mates over for Christmas dinner, but those plans had come crashing down quickly after he’d sent his invitation to their group chat.

Remus was out of town – gone to his dad’s for Christmas. Peter had replied James text with “can’t” and “busy” and hadn’t elaborated further.

Sirius had gone AWOL, which concerned James though it wasn’t the first time it had happened. Holidays didn’t agree with Sirius; too many tainted memories of an unhappy childhood. He was probably in a pub somewhere, in abysmal spirits, on his way to being shit-faced… which really wasn’t the ideal way to celebrate Christmas, no matter how lonely James was feeling.

Nearing the station, he adjusted his muffler, buttoned his coat and pulled on his gloves. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as he stepped out onto the platform, and joined the stream of people heading towards the exit of the crowded train station.

It was Christmas Eve. The station was full of people, and he passed more than one scene of reunion, with hugs and laughter and kisses to glowing cheeks.

But James Potter was on his own.

 

* * *

 

 

Lily scanned the departing trains to double-check the platform, grabbed her suitcase and rang her sister.

She tapped her foot as she listened to the tone. Then the call was cut, though Petunia had never picked up.

Lily gritted her teeth. She wouldn’t give up so easily.

She went on to type a text message, forcing herself to use emoticons to put on a sense of cheer.

_Hi, I’m just about to leave London!_  🙂 _The train should be in Surrey around seven, is that ok? See you soon!_ 👋😊

Lily started to walk towards her platform, was almost there when her phone chimed.

_It’s not ok_ , Petunia’s answering text read.  _Don’t bother coming_.

Lily stopped and stared at her phone.

It was true that she and Petunia had grown apart – even truer that Petunia’s marriage to Vernon Dursley had only driven the wedge in deeper. And their relationship had noticeably deteriorated in the past two years since their mum had passed away and they were no longer forced to be civil to one another.

Sure, the Christmas dinner last year at Petunia’s had been an awkward and a stilted affair and Lily hadn’t really been looking forward to going now. 

If Lily had had anyone else to celebrate Christmas with, she would’ve gladly made her excuses to Petunia.

But even so,  _this_? This she had not seen coming.

Despite how bad things had got between her and Petunia, she’d never have imagined she wouldn’t be welcome at her sister’s house.

In hindsight, stopping to gawk at one’s phone in the middle of a busy London railway station was not the smartest thing to do.

It was inevitable that someone who wasn’t properly watching where they were going would run into her.

Perhaps it was also inevitable, that out of all people at the station, in London, in the world, that distracted person would be  _him_.

He all but barrelled into her; Lily’s shoulder stung from the impact and she nearly dropped her phone, on the screen of which Petunia’s terse and dismissive message still taunted her.

“Bloody hell,” a vaguely familiar voice cursed. “I’m so sorry, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Lily mumbled in a hasty reply, rubbing her shoulder.

She looked up and her eyes grew wide, the same flash of surprise mirrored on the young man’s face.

Then, his lips drew into a wide grin, the sight of which jolted her even after all this time.

“Evans? Blimey! It’s been years, how are you?”

“Fine, thank you,” Lily answered, even though she very much  _wasn’t_. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“I know, right? Quite the coincidence!”

A coincidence indeed.

They’d been classmates back in sixth form.

He had fancied her. Everyone in the school had known because he had made no secret of it; on one very memorable occasion, he’d even very publicly asked her to go out with him.

She had fancied him right back, but no one had known about her feelings, not even her closest friends. And she had turned him down, equally publicly, because much as she’d fancied him, James Potter had been a bit of a prat.

Well, a lot of a prat.

But that was a whole other story.

Lily found herself studying him, a little curious. The grin was still the same, his hair was still a horrid mess, his glasses still a little crooked on his nose. But the air around him was different, his hazel eyes looking a little more solemn.

For a moment they stood there, the silence stretching and starting to grow a little awkward. 

Lily wondered if the time had come to make their goodbyes and go their separate ways when James stuffed his hands to his pockets and nodded at her suitcase.

“Going home for the holidays?”

“Yes,” Lily replied automatically. “I mean no,” she corrected just a few seconds later. 

She grimaced at herself, even as James raised his eyebrow.

“I was going to go to Petunia’s – my sister’s – but she texted me just now to tell me I shouldn’t come,” Lily told him.

“Really?” James asked, incredulous. “What a cow!”

And just like that, Lily’s dour mood evaporated, and laughter poured out.

“She really is,” Lily replied with feeling, beaming at James.

This was why she had fancied him all those years ago, even if at times he had been a huge berk; because he made her smile.

Of course, his looks and his confidence hadn’t hurt, either.

Though speaking of his looks... He was looking even better than he had since she’d last seen him. The beginnings of crow’s-feet in the corner of his eyes from all the laughter really suited him, the definition of his jawline and cheekbones stood out more, and then there was the way his tall and gangly body had filled out…

Lily hastily looked away and blushed, hoping he hadn’t noticed her staring.

He was mussing up his hair, a gesture she’d half-forgotten but which now suddenly brought forth a host of memories.

Lily's smile flashed again, a little wistfully around the edges.

“So… Change of plans for you?” James asked.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Lily sighed.

“Know what you’re gonna do yet?”

“It’s looking like I’ll have to spend this Christmas alone,” Lily replied, shrugging.

“The thing is…” James glanced away, his ears a little pink. “I was going to have my mates over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. Did the shopping and all. And, well, they’re not coming.”

Lily’s stomach did a jittery flip.

“So, maybe, rather than you spending Christmas alone and me having Christmas dinner all by myself… well, we could share?” James mussed his hair again. “I mean, you could come over and we could have dinner. Together.”

Warmth flooded Lily’s chest, her heartbeat picked up a notch. 

For years, she had thought of James Potter only in passing, maybe occasionally heard a bit about him from the old classmates she sporadically kept in touch with…

But now, suddenly confronted again by him; having him stand before her, that hesitant-yet-hopeful look in his hazel eyes as he waited for her answer…

It brought all those feelings flooding back – made a smile stretch across her lips, wide and bright.

Unlike that last time, she had no reason to turn him down now.

“That sounds lovely,” she told him, blushing a little.

Or maybe a lot.

James’ grin was instant, his eyes alight.

The way he looked at her had Lily’s heart throwing a full giddy somersault.

She silently sent thanks to Petunia for being such a bitch.

Instead of having to suffer through a dinner with the Dursleys, she was going to dine with James Potter.

Sharing a smile with him, while her heart beat an exuberant rhythm and the old butterflies stirred again in the pit of her stomach, Lily thought this might well be the best Christmas dinner of her life.

 

 

 


End file.
